The Definition of Dominican Ser dominicano

The Definition of Dominican

Story, photos and video by Sherry Mazzocchi

Photo: Led Black

A Dominican court ruling recently revoked the citizenship of all people born of foreign-born parents since June of 1929. The ruling applies to anyone born between 1929 and 2010, and impacts somewhere between 200,000 to 225,000 people, mostly of Haitian descent.

That begs a question: What does it mean to be a Dominican?

We asked all kinds of Dominicans that question. We talked to people who were born here but have family still living in the Caribbean, and spoke to people who were born there but had lived in the U.S. most of their lives.

Recent immigrants too were interviewed.

We never specified the answers had to be in relation to the court ruling—but it naturally came up. The answers are varied as the people themselves—and they range from political, to personal, to poetic.

Many people born in the U.S. talked about being in Dominican in terms of family, language and visiting the island. Others used a succession of adjectives, including: hard-working, happy and fun. Some dug deep into issues of race, class and sexism. At least one, who railed at moral bankruptcy of elected officials, said from time to time he chooses not to be Dominican.

This week, we present the interviews of several people.

They are not meant to be the final word on the topic. Instead, they are intended as a jumping off point for you, your family, neighbors, friends, classmates and co-workers to talk about what it means to be a Dominican, an American or even a good citizen of the country you happen to be in.

And—what rights does that country owe you?

“I move with rhythm”

Armando Batista

Armando Batista is an actor, writer and educator. His parents are from the Dominican Republic and he was born in the United States and grew up in Washington Heights.

He is co-creating the play, I am New York: Juan Rodríguez, with Maija García.

A trader, Juan Rodríguez arrived in New York in 1613 from Hispaniola. Considered to be New York’s first immigrant, Batista says his story echoes the path of many Dominicans coming to the U.S. now. As he finds a home in a new world, he shifts his identity and the culture around him.

Batista sees himself as Dominican and American. “It’s a walking, evolving identity,” he said. “I move with rhythm, I speak with rhythm.” He lives in the U.S. but is also “moving within planes of different conceptual worlds of some—I don’t know—magical realisms and some Caribbean sassistas – like merengue, platanos, así, aquí, allá – and that stuff constantly negotiating in my body and my mind. I’m all that and a bag of chips.”

“Hope a change comes from this”

Bernadette García

Bernadette García is a counselor in the anti-domestic violence program at the Dominican Women’s Development Center (DWDC) in Washington Heights. She was born in the Bronx to Dominican parents. Her parents passed down their traditions and culture. García said, “I’m a New Yorker, but I consider myself Dominican.”

García believes the country’s founding fathers would be appalled by the recent ruling in the DR. “It cancels out—it annuls—what the principle of the Dominican Republic is,” she said. “Anyone can be Dominican. Anyone can be of any nationality.” The underlying issue is racism. “I think people are appalled,” she said.

“I just hope a change comes from this,” she said. “We should learn from our mistakes.”

“Dominicans as the first Americans”

Led Black

Led Black is an artist, writer, entrepreneur and publisher of The Uptown Collective.

“I like to think of Dominicans as the first Americans,” he said. The first school, church and university were all established on the island of Hispaniola. “Before Plymouth Rock, before Jamestown, there was already a new civilization growing.”

Dominicans are a dynamic amalgam of the Old World and the New World.

They adapt well to change. When the Spaniards discovered gold in other parts of the New World, they left Hispaniola’s residents to fall back on their own wits to use whatever resources they can. He said. “I think that’s something that’s a deep part of the Dominican psyche and soul.”

His own mother is an example of that. She came to America with nothing and provided for her family with a variety of jobs. “She’s my superhero in a lot of ways,” he said. She became a citizen and never misses an election.

Black said Dominican-Americans have a responsibility to make things better in U.S. Latino communities and in Dominican Republic.

“The Dominican Republic is a beautiful place that’s rich in resources, but it’s badly administered,” he said. “I think that if we could bring some of that American know-how, some of the civic thinking, I think we could make the Dominican Republic a better place.”

“What if that happened to us here?”

Karina Rieke

Karina Rieke is the program director for the Dominican Women’s Development Center’s education department. She was born in the Dominican Republic but grew up in New York. Her mother is Dominican, but her father is German. “I grew up with German food,” she said. “But also eating mangu with huevo and queso.”

The tribunal ruling is a personal issue for her. She wonders if her own nationality will be called into question.

Also, her children were born in the United States.

“What if that happened to us here?” she said.

“It’s crazy. I think it’s against who we are as Dominicans,” she added. “I feel as Dominican as anybody else there.”

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